Got time this weekend to work on the barnster....so put some hours...
Firstly I cut away barney's passenger side dogleg. Below you can see the rust/rot in the bottom of the front pillar that was 'hidden'
by the old crusty dogleg...
Rust in the rear pillar was also masked/caused by the crusty dogleg. It was also suspect in the top left hand corner under the floor...just a little
bubbly but it will have to be fixed!
Repaired the bottom of the front pillar. Had to fix the lower inner structure as well...
The 'finished' front pillar repair...
Repaired the rear pillar.....you can probably see the patch in the top left hand corner (under the floor) too....
That corner repair from above....
Worked deep into the night *yawn* and got the new dogleg fitted. Its a brazilian repro of a 'late' dogleg that I bought from Guy Harding.
Guy warned me that they were 'difficult to fit' (which I knew, not unusual to have to unpick them completely, fit and weld em together
again).
Spent a lot of time measuring and pondering...and yes they are sorta 'twisted' as supplied. Thought it through and reckoned that if I
unpicked the top edge and refolded it I would basically straighten it up and it worked pretty well. Gaps are nice and even if slightly wider that
I'd like at 3 mmish (but the gap behind the door which is fixed is that wide so it all looks balanced)....
I now have to modify widen the 'lip' on the dogleg (early busses were wider above the wheel well...)...
If you want to see slightly bigger pics you can see them by clicking on the links below..
http://users.pipeline.com.au/hoopty/barnbody19.jpg
http://users.pipeline.com.au/hoopty/barnbody21.jpg
http://users.pipeline.com.au/hoopty/barnbody22.jpg
http://users.pipeline.com.au/hoopty/barnbody23.jpg
http://users.pipeline.com.au/hoopty/barnbody24.jpg
http://users.pipeline.com.au/hoopty/barnbody25.jpg
http://users.pipeline.com.au/hoopty/barnbody26.jpg
later gators
RobK
[Edited on 19-5-2003 by splitbusaustralia]
wow looking good. you do really nice work.
are there any pics of the whole car? i would love to see it.
henry.
nice job, itll look sweet when shes done. love the progress pics
Bigger pix at the links below:
http://users.pipeline.com.au/hoopty/barneyfirstdrive2.jpg
http://users.pipeline.com.au/hoopty/barneyfirstdrive3.jpg
http://users.pipeline.com.au/hoopty/barneyfirstdrive5.jpg
Barns are best!
RobK
[Edited on 19-5-2003 by splitbusaustralia]
Well done Rob...She's lookin' good......You gonna slam it? Easy to do with a Barny....No need for adjusters or drop spindles either! You can
fit beetle ball joint trailling arms & spindles straight in. Just need to make up some new bushes. I've seen it done, gets it nice & low
and you can have disc brakes too! And straight axle the rear is far more straight forward in Barny's too as the tarck is suppose to be
narrower!
Justa suggestion!
Oh yeah...And keep it "ratty"!
Yep,
Something like that. I think you have to machine the beetle trailing arms a little to open them up for the bus torsion leaves which are bigger and a
short axle box bolts straight into the back.....wide 5 disc conversion on front and type3 drums rear.
Dunno about the rat. Really like it but it looks like there's going to be rats everywhere now - probably depend on money. If I had the money
I'd lean towards new paint and a 'resto-cal' look.
Think I'm going to put the 23 back on the block again. Got too much money tied up in one bus. Always scrounging for $$$ for the barney and
another early bus came up I'd really really really like to buy (may have already missed it) and I haven't got the readies.....if I picked
it up I'd have enough bits to do one hot rod bus and one completely faithful restoration...
RobK
I hear you about the "rat" factor.
Brother Mark was sayin' you looking for a dualcab?
Have you seen what this guys doing?
http://franklinsvwwerks.com/
Nuts!
v.nice rob.